


Life's Not For Everyone

by VSSAKJ



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Kratos Route, Trick or Treat: Trick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 04:37:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12313875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSSAKJ/pseuds/VSSAKJ
Summary: It's a simple philosophy: You can't betray someone if you were never on their side to begin with.





	Life's Not For Everyone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gargant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gargant/gifts).



> Happy Halloween! I had fun working on this for you, and I hope it's in keeping with the ideas you had for your prompt.

Genis is the first to fall.

Zelos doesn’t mind—the little brat has always been too snide for his own good, and after Zelos’s shield bounces away the last lightning bolt Genis has in his fingers, it’s as simple as thrusting a sharp blade through soft flesh. Killing a half-elf isn’t the same as killing another person, not really, so it doesn’t bother him. Genis hits the ground and goes still, and Raine’s shriek of fury pierces his ears.

He doesn’t have a lot of practice fighting groups—that’s the reason why his breathing is heavy, definitely. When Regal comes towards him high and Presea sweeps her axe out low and Raine spreads her fingers so brilliant light flashes in his eyes, he flips away backwards and ends up face-to-face with Sheena. She’s partway through an incantation and her eyes are darker than he’s ever seen before, so before he can hesitate, he guts her.

“Sheena!”

Lloyd’s voice rings out in the chamber, but all he can hear is the popping sound of blood in Sheena’s throat. Zelos watches the colour fade from beneath her feet as she crumples down, clutching the hole in her middle. She hisses at him, and he can hear the words even though her mouth doesn’t form them properly.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Taking the winning side.” He repeats; he’s told them already, and he doesn’t know why they keep damn well asking. He thinks he can see her glower one last time before her skin goes smooth and her body topples forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Regal charging him, and his lips twist in a savage smirk as he blocks Regal’s attack with his sword. “You’re at a bit of a disadvantage, aren’t you President?” Zelos spits, and before Regal has time to speak, Zelos kicks out at the leg bearing Regal’s weight. Regal’s harder than Zelos expected him to be, but he has no hands to brace himself and he skids to the floor.

“Regal, hold on!” This time it’s Raine’s voice, and Zelos doesn’t know what she thinks she’s going to do as he plunges his sword down into Regal’s chest. When he pulls it out, there’s a terrible sucking sound as air rushes to fill the space he’s left, and in a moment of disgust, he thrusts the sword back in a second time. Regal doesn’t make any noise after that.

Zelos pushes himself back to his full height and wipes his bangs to one side; his headband came off at some point, and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to find it in all this blood. Presea is ranging carefully beyond lunging distance, her axe at the ready, and Raine is keeping her eyes on him as she casts a protective spell over herself an Presea. So they’re going to try fighting smart now? Too bad for them, he’s got nothing to lose.

His sword’s heavy but he still raises it, dashing across the dais towards Raine, directly through Presea’s line of sight. The feint works and she pulls her axe back to ready a swing, exposing herself to a running swipe from Zelos’s sword. He connects with the side of her body and wrenches almost full circle around her with momentum before he extracts the blade and keeps on towards Raine. She’s defenseless now, and she knows it: he can see it in her eyes.

His heart is racing as he kills her too. Everything is bloody: his gloves, his boots, his trousers, his hair. He refuses to let red on white remind him of anything, and instead whirls around to confront the only other person left standing.

Lloyd hasn’t moved since the massacre started.

“What’s the matter, Lloyd?” Zelos growls, gesturing his blade over the bodies of Raine and Presea. “I thought you’d be busy defending them.”

“I can’t believe you’d do this.” Lloyd’s hands are shaking so much that the tips of his swords dance through the air. “Why would you betray us like this? We _trusted you_ , Zelos!”

“Bullshit!” Zelos slashes angrily through the air, then motions upwards, into the depths of Derris Kharlan, “If you trusted me, you wouldn’t have spent so much time trailing after rumours of that damn old man! He betrayed you and you still trust him? He’s your damn father, Lloyd. Parents owe their children better than what he gave you.”

“Kratos helped us.” Lloyd shakes his head, fists tight around his swords. “Kratos helped Colette.” 

“Helped her?” Zelos laughs, the sound abrasive even to his own ears. Why is his heart still beating so fast? “Yeah, making sure she turns into the perfect vessel for Martel is definitely what I’d call help. She’ll never be herself again. Delivering the perfect Chosen right into Yggdrasill’s hands is definitely something to be proud of.”

Lloyd shakes his head again, lifting one of his swords to point it in Zelos’s direction. “Kratos didn’t do that, Zelos. You did. Kratos saved her life, and you gave her to Yggdrasill. We could have worked together. We would have helped both of you! We trusted you, Zelos, but you didn’t trust us.”

“You’re damn right I didn’t!” Zelos shouts, darting forward. Lloyd raises his blades in a cross to rebuff the overhand swing, and Zelos keeps going, watching his form get messier and messier against Lloyd’s persistent—unexpected—defense. “Why won’t you fight back?!”

Lloyd’s expression finally breaks, his eyes narrow and sad at the same time. “I don’t want to kill you. Even with all this. Even though you killed all my friends!” Lloyd pushes back and Zelos falls away several steps, shoulders sagging as his chest heaves. “I have to save Colette. I owe it to everyone. And that means I can’t be stopped here. You don’t really want to stop me, do you Zelos?”

Lloyd’s voice sounds hopeful. How the hell someone can have hope after what just happened is beyond Zelos. Paralysed, he watches as Lloyd slowly edges past him, walking through the blood towards the elevator where Pronyma took charge of Colette. He watches Lloyd’s eyes close as he passes Genis’s body, closest to the elevator. He watches how Lloyd’s wrists quiver when Lloyd hears him stand up straighter and begin to walk.

On the elevator, facing away, Lloyd says softly, “Please don’t do this.”

Behind him, Zelos replies, “I have to do this.”

After that, it’s quiet in the chamber. His sword clatters against the floor as Zelos covers his mouth with one hand, surprised by how sick he feels. It was just… too easy. None of them had even put up a fight. The smell is powerful, and more familiar than he’d like. Alone, he kicks his sword away and screams wordless frustration against the oppressive silence.

The sound comes back to his ears muffled, like the whole room is blanketed in snow.

She was right. She’d always been right about him.


End file.
